30-second Commencement Speech!

I love reading commencement speeches because they often capture the essence of a lifetime’s worth of experience and lessons that have been learnt by the usually-eminent person giving them. Most speeches are typically 30 to 45 min long, but this one is only 30 seconds! It was the commencement speech presented by Brian Dyson, former CEO of Coca-Cola at Georgia Tech Uni in 1996. Here you go:

Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling some five balls in the air. You name them: Work, Family, Health, Friends and Spirit. And you’re keeping all of these in the air. You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. But the other four balls—family, health, friends and spirit—are made of glass. If you drop one of these, they will be irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged or even shattered. They will never be the same. You must understand that and strive for balance in your life.